Rightwing extremists defeated by Democrats in US school board elections

Scores of rightwing US extremists were defeated in school-board elections in April, in a victory for the left and what Democrats hope could be effective for running against Republicans in the year ahead.

In Illinois, Democrats said more than 70% of school-board candidates it had endorsed won their races, often defeating the kinds of anti-LGBTQ+ culture-warrior candidates who have taken control of school boards across the country.

Republican-backed candidates in Wisconsin also fared poorly. Moms for Liberty, a rightwing group linked to wealthy Republican donors which has been behind book-banning campaigns in the US, said only eight of its endorsed candidates won election to school boards, and other conservative groups also reported disappointing performances.

The results come as education and free-speech organizations have warned of a new surge in book bans in public schools in America. Over the past two years, conservatives in US states have removed hundreds of books from school classrooms and libraries. The targeted books have largely been texts that address race and LGBTQ+ issues, or are written by people of color or LGBTQ+ authors.

The Democratic party of Illinois spent $300,000 on races in Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reported, endorsing dozens of candidates. The party said 84 of 117 candidates it had recommended won their races.

The results were disappointing for conservative groups, who had pumped money into races.

The 1776 Project, a political action committee that received funding from Richard Uihlein, a billionaire GOP donor, said only a third of the 63 candidates it had backed in Illinois and Wisconsin won their races. Politico first reported on the lackluster performances.

Union-endorsed candidates won two-thirds of their school-board races in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, although Republican-supported candidates performed better in rural areas.